It's becoming a normal practice now for company giants to use generative AI as opposed to paying graphic artists and animators to make them. Disney used AI to create the intro for "Secret Invasion" and now, Ubisoft is posting AI-generated art on social media.
Ubisoft's Weird Ezio Art
Users spotted a post by the video game company through one of its X (formerly Twitter) accounts which appeared to be an AI-generated image. It was an image of Ezio that looked like he was a character from Fortnite due to the irregular proportions and art style.
In addition to that, an Assassin behind him was also holding what looked like a throwing blade as if it were a gun. It used the hashtag "#MIDJOURNEY," clarifying that it was indeed, created using generative AI. Fans of the franchise took to social media to complain.
Ubisoft literally conducting layoffs this year and last month, and they're posting AI art. Unbelievable.
— Reid Southen (@Rahll) October 31, 2023
What the hell is the game industry doing right now. pic.twitter.com/XVbzqcbw9D
Forbes writer Paul Tassi expressed through X: "In other amazing industry news here's an official Ubisoft account with 300K followers posting AI art." The post was already deleted, but a user managed to take a screenshot.
X user @Rahll posted along with the screenshot that Ubisoft was posting AI art just as they are "conducting layoffs this year and last month." As if that wasn't bad enough, another Ubisoft account did the same thing.
The Ubisoft Netherlands account posted a seemingly AI-generated Ezio as well along with Jack-o'-lanterns as a symbol for Halloween. The caption translates to "Which Ubisoft game is perfect for this horrible evening?" as per Kotaku.
This isn't a good look for Ubisoft, especially since the company is already vilified for a great number of things, including the layoffs of its employees. Everyone knows well enough that a lot of people are against AI being used to replace human workers, and this case, artists.
It also would've been easy enough for the company to use one of its many Ezio images and edit them for a Halloween-themed promotion image. That would certainly look better than Ezio looking like you can play him in the cartoonish FPS game.
Ubisoft's Layoffs
Back in May, the video game giant conducted layoffs that affected around 60 employees who work in customer service. It has done so again recently this late September as it laid off six employees to "focus on communications," which marks the third round for 2023.
In line with the recent posts of AI-generated art on X, the employees who lost their jobs worked for Ubiosft's community and social media teams. A company spokesperson already confirmed the recent workforce reduction, as reported by Game Developer.
One of the employees, Paola Casetta, worked as the community manager. She expressed that she has been "lucky enough to work with the best team," and that she will never forget the time she spent there and the amazing people she met.
The job cuts were conducted across offices in Spain and the US, while the previous round of layoffs affected offices in North Carolina and Newcastle. Sadly, Ubisoft is not the only video game company that has been reducing their workforce as Blizzard Entertainment and Epic Games have also done so.
